szaky

Dear Mt McKinley, Thank you for your answer! In fact I plan to move in March 2013 and my sons would start school only in september. Till september they should learn only English. (in my other post I wrote about this - I still don't know about this anything too, we're still looking for the possibilities) Yes, you are right, it is almost 100% sure that my son will need speciel help. In Hungary maybe he could have avoided it (I mean I take him to the developmental hours to a special place, but e.g. in the kindergarten he doesn't need special help), but in a foreign country he won't be able to avoid that. The other son (4.5 years old) is totally NT, so he is not on the spectrum (huh...). I think I will get further answers only when I'll visit Scotland in January and I can visit the schools. Yes, smaller calsses would be a very important thing. I plan to make visual helps (pictures and social stories) about the moving, I hope it will help him to get through with that faster. He is totally mad about buses and trains (his main interests are buses and trains) and I think I can use this to help him to cope with the situation better (there are so many modern and special trains in the UK, he will love them). And we speak about this usually. I will contact the National Autistic Society in Scotland surely, thank you for the idea! Thank you again, your anser was very helpful! szaky

Dear Linda, I'm so greatful for your answer! My plan is that my son could start school only in september (2013) and till then he (and his brother) could learn English only. But I need to know as soon as possible which school we will choose, because we have to rent our flat/house in that district (we plan to move to Scotland in March). But this is another urging problem that you pointed out, learning English... I know that in the USA there are language classes for foreigners even in schools, and I know a family who moved to Germany with a 3 years old kid and that kid got a language help even in the kindergarten. So if I understand right, there is no chance for a language class like this in Scotland. Only the private, expensive version? I try to get some good English teacher here in Hungary till March, but I know it's not easy for a child with ASD to learn another language (my son doesn't have now language problems, but he had when he was smaller and he doesn't understand that e.g. English is also a language like Hungarian, he just laughs on English words). That's why I thought it would be better to learn it in the UK, because it is always easier in the native enviroment. Thank you for answer again, you helped me a lot! szaky

Hello Everyone, I've already posted into the Education section, but I felt I should write a few sentences about us. Currently I live in Budapest (Hungary) with my 2 sons (almost 4.5 and 6), the bigger one has Asperger Syndrome (diagnosed in October 2011) and my husband works in England. We are planning to follow him and together we could move to Scotland (around Edinburgh). Our son with ASD is still in kindergarten (in Hungary every child stays here until the age 6.5-7), so they don't have lessons and compulsory things, it is just free playing all day. So here we don't have any problem, our son communicates well, he is high functioning, he has excellent skills (he learnt reading and writing by himself). The biggest problem is that he is really infelxible in some areas. Like when he thinks about playing e.g. with a toy, it is impossible to let him understand that it is not time for that because we have to leave in time to somewhere. And he can't listen well to the speach, if there are no pictures, he is not able to listen carefully after some minutes, so he doesn't understand important things he is told to. I'm curious about what kind of developmental treats are available in the UK for kids with ASD? Now he attends to a school preparing class, it is held in a place only for children with ASD. But he will attend to normal school, it is just a good practice for him to let him prepare to sit still for an hour and maybe he could learn how to listen more than a few minutes to someone who is speaking (he could listen to films for hours, he understands those). Now I have to find good schools around Edinburgh and it seems impossible now...I don't know how things are going in the UK with the AS children in school. In January I will spend some days in Edinburgh with my husband to visit the preselected schools (so I have to have some ideas till then) and to find a house to rent there, so it is very exciting period in our life. I'm afraid of the language, because my son (none of them) doesn't speak English at all and he laughs on English speach, he thinks it's a good joke. (the 4.5 years old son is NT and he understands that English is another language like Hungarian, he started to use some words after watching an English film). Now I will look around here and read back as much as I can to know others here!

Hello Everyone, I'd like to collect any kind of information about primary schools in Scotland (if someone knows good primary schools around Musselburgh-Prestonpans, it would be fantastic). We have an almost 4.5 years old NT son and a 6 years old son who has Asperger syndrome (and milk protein allergy). We are planning to move to somewhere around Musselburgh or Prestonpans (or Edinburgh) from Budapest, Hungary. None of our kids speak English which makes the whole school problem very difficult. At the moment my husband is working in England and me and the kids are in Budapest (we plan to move in the next spring). I will travel to Edinburgh in January to arrange a house and a school, but till then I need to know all the important information about primary schools for children with ASD. I can't find on the schools' web pages anything about integrating children with mild disabilty like Asperger. My son is on the edge, he's a high functioning boy with very good communication skills (despite of his AS), but he needs a small help though like visual help or just some motivating action (e.g. collecting stickers to get some reward), so the teacher should know about his Asperger, but he doesn't need too much help. I don't understand some things, so here are my questions: Is there any law or rules applyed to Scottish primary schools affecting these children? Which schools can take in children with ASD? I read about the Equality Act 2010, does that mean that e.g. my son could attend to any primary school in Scotland? What is a statement that a child can get? What kind of development treat can get a child with ASD in the school? What kind of language help can get a foreign, non English speaking child in a primary school? Thank you very much in advance for all answers!!